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Plan to legalize cannabis in Australia and use it to pay for a massive increase in Centrelink unemployment payments
- Taxes could then finance a subsidy increase of $80 per fortnight
- Canada has already largely loosened its restrictions.
- A Green senator has called cannabis “green gold”
The Greens are pushing a radical plan to legalize cannabis, calling it “green gold”, taxing it heavily and using the proceeds to pay for a massive increase in Centrelink payments.
A new study has found that legalizing cannabis in Australia could raise up to $28 billion in taxes over a decade and take money from organized crime.
The Greens commissioned research from the Parliamentary Budget Office which found it would mean JobSeeker and Youth Allowance could be increased by $80 a fortnight.
Canada has already largely loosened restrictions, allowing those over the age of 18 to purchase cannabis from both government-run stores and licensed retailers.
Legalizing cannabis in Australia could raise up to $28 billion in tax over a decade. In the image, a woman smoking weed.
It is still a crime in Canada to sell marijuana to a child, smoke in public, grow more than four plants at home, or carry more than 30 grams.
The Greens’ proposal, if signed into law, would allow people to legally grow six cannabis plants, but would still make it illegal to sell them to children.
Sen. David Shoebridge, who is the Greens’ justice spokesman, said marijuana taxes could also be used for housing.
‘$28 billion is enough to build affordable housing for 280,000 people or raise Jobseeker by $80 a fortnight,’ he tweeted.
‘The cost calculation assumes that 10% of the cannabis sold under the scheme would be sold to tourists, with the potential that this could grow.
“This green gold could become the lifeblood of many regional areas that are currently fighting for viable local industries.”
Drug law is a state issue, but Greens say cannabis could be regulated at the federal level under article 51 of the constitution.
“Legal cannabis makes enormous social and economic sense,” Shoebridge told News Corp.
“When we legalize cannabis, we take billions away from organized crime, the police and the criminal justice system and can then spend it on schools, housing, hospitals and social support.”
The money would be raised by GST on sales, a 15 percent cannabis sales tax, and a corporation tax on profits.
The Greens call for marijuana to be legalized. Pictured is a commercial marijuana growing operation.
If a higher cannabis sales tax of 25 percent were used, the tax collected over the decade of operation could be as high as $36 billion.
The Greens’ plan would establish a National Cannabis Australia Agency (CANA) that would oversee the legalization of its sale and production through strict regulation.
CANA would be the sole wholesaler between the producers and the outlets, and would set the wholesale price, which would initially be based on the Australian retail price.
The cost to the consumer would then fluctuate according to market forces such as supply and demand.
Green senator David Shoebridge (pictured) said “legal cannabis makes enormous social and economic sense.”
Shoebridge said that “nearly half of Australian adults have used cannabis at one time or another…
‘When you legalize cannabis, you can properly regulate the market, provide consistent health and safety advice, and make the product safer.
“Right now, the only ‘safety regulators’ for the cannabis market are motorcycle gangs and organized crime, and that doesn’t make much sense.”